Chicago White Sox: Mazara and Gallo Are Musts in Sale Trade

The Chicago White Sox turned the market upside down when they said they would listen to offers on their ace, Chris Sale. With Sale having so many years remaining on his contract, the White Sox are naturally demanding a high price.

The Chicago White Sox thought they would be contenders going into 2016. A 23-10 start to the season caused them to believe in themselves even more, but from that 23-10 mark they have crumbled. They went from first place to fourth in a month while Cleveland took fire and the Tigers became a real contender. Now they sit in an uncomfortable place, unsure about either buying or selling with a record just shy of .500 and too many teams to climb over in the Wild Card. In an effort to improve their farm system and perhaps rebuild, they have decided to listen to offers on Chris Sale.

When a player of Chris Sale’s caliber is on the market, it always generates a large amount of discussion about what exactly the trading partner will offer in return. Talks around the baseball world have occurred over the past couple weeks in regard to a Sale trade. The White Sox have rightfully demanded a high price for Chris Sale, who has been one of the best starting pitchers in the American League over the past five seasons.

Not only has Chris Sale been very good in the last five seasons (2.99 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 27.7 percent K% and 4.94 K/BB) but he also is on an incredibly cheap contract with team control through 2019. Because of all these elements combined, the White Sox have asked for quite a lot of talent in return. The high asking price has limited true suitors to two or three teams: the Rangers, Red Sox and Nationals.

The Texas Rangers have made the strongest push for Chris Sale, according to rumors floating around Twitter. According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who has been known for his ties to the White Sox organization, the White Sox are still demanding a high price from the Rangers in talks:

Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara are arguably the two most valuable prospects in the Rangers organization, although both are currently on the major league roster. They’re both players with high ceilings that are either very close to making their breakthrough (Gallo) or already strong contributors to the major league team (Mazara). Including both of those players in a deal for Chris Sale makes sense based on value alone, but it would leave the Rangers in a similar situation to the one they’re in now.

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Their pitching would improve by adding Sale, but they would lose one player who was a key ingredient in their hot streak that led to them leading their division and another that could have helped them down the stretch. If the Rangers are serious about adding Chris Sale to the team, they will have to make a deal that they may not be 100 percent comfortable with.

We have already seen this trade season that teams are willing to pay a premium for pitching because of the advantage it will give them down the road in the playoffs, but trading for Chris Sale is much different than trading for a relief pitcher. The White Sox currently have all the leverage in trade talks, with no reason to rush trading Chris Sale. If no team offers what the White Sox are looking for, they will simply keep Chris Sale and continue their future plans with him in the fold.

These factors all point toward Chris Sale not being traded during the 2016 season. If the Rangers really want him and are willing to give up two of their top prospects along with other talent, the deal will get done; most likely, the Rangers are not that desperate. With the White Sox sitting back with no pressure to trade Sale, they will wait for a team to offer a huge package before they pull the trigger.

Next: Rangers discussing Velasquez with Phillies

Will Chris Sale be traded this season? I don’t think so, but anything can happen during trade season. If he is traded to the Rangers, Joey Gallo and Nomar Mazara will absolutely be part of the trade.